The Legal Gen X Grew Up ... for nothin'

Remember the X Generation [now 32 to 44]?  They invented the phrase "jump the shark."  They generated countless books about how they weren't going to live only to work. [I co-authored one titled "The Critical 14 Years in Your Professional Life," with Bob Dilenschneider.] But that gen never really did reset pop culture or the workplace. 

As Martha Irvine reports on HuffingtonPost.com, yes, they finally embraced the realities of the workplace as it was.  They grew up.

But soon enough, they were squashed by the recession when they were ready to go to work.  Then came the dot.com meltdown.  Now, the tier above them, the baby boomers and even some silent gens, won't or can't retire.  This is especially the situation in law where it takes years to master the profession and where clients currently demand seasoned partners on their assignments, not younger attorneys. Meanwhile, if they haven't made partner and are bringing in new business as a partner, they are vulnerable to layoffs.  Associates at all levels are dropping like flies, particularly if they don't have star power or know how to attract and close on building a book of business.

The result is that this gen could wind up to be a lost one, at least professionally.  The way up for its members could be to chronicle itself in documentaries, pop culture films, videos on YouTubes, and books.  Those with the ability to stand back, deconstruct what is going on, and make a compelling statement about it thrive, no matter how bad times may be.  Scott Turow got his start as a writer analyzing the game being a 1L at an elite law school.  The Boys at Abovethelaw.com use satire to sort out the paradigm shift in the business and profession of law.  Plaintiff attorney Bill Marler of Marler Clark got it that the food safety system was broken - see his blog.

What mothers always told their offspring is still true:  It isn't the mess you're in, it's how you turn it into opportunity.

Comments

[Gen X]

Am 37. A partner in a Chicago firm. Have wife and kids. Can pay my student loans, save money for kids college (though not enough likely), save for retirement and am able to pay my mortgage. Not getting rich, but getting bye and doing much better than 90% of this country.

Could be working in a steel mill, with the daily fear of death. Could be working in a coal mine, with the daily fear of death. Could be a single parent working retail, with the daily fear of bankruptcy. Could be lot's of other bad things. No complaints. No whining. Don't really even feel lost. Lucky more like it.

[Roy]

I went to one of the best law school's in our country (Northwestern)
and i have been laid off from a major firm... i refuse to just settle for any position

[Lathamandias]

I met a lawyer from manhattan island

Who said: "Two vast and cavernous conference rooms

Stand in a high rise. From them come commands,

And half tattered, shattered associates cry, the boom

Of bottles and models now expired they understand,

And tales of Watkins dismissal spreads the dread,

Only one partner survives, signing letters that read DING!

His hand mocks the dreams of 160k upon which many fed.

And on these letters these words appear:

`My name is Lathamandias, Counsel of Kings:

Look on my LLP, ye lowly, and despair!'

Even Watkins no longer remains. Salaries freezed

and countless deferred, 2 and 3ls with no prayer,

but for that cute bunny 2l from socal, so good on her knees".

[Latham Sucks]

Why didn't Latham defer half the first years and cancel one summer class they hadn't yet recruited? They obviously feel no sense of loyalty to their associates.

[Also Lathamed]

2009 is a lost year for many of us. I was Latham'd myself. But even if it decreases our lifetime earnings, in the context of a 40+ year career this will not amount to much. Hell, if you're fretting about all you'll now have such a hard time getting to do, remember this. The average life expectancy goes nowhere but up over time. Take care of yourself and you can work until you're 75 or even older, and get to accomplish more than you dreamed even before you went to law school. Remember the reasons you chose this path, and if it was for something other than the money, the career attainment is still out there to be had.

Though, right now, its not entirely unreasonable to hate the profession.

[Broke GenXer]

GenX is really feeling the pinch. We're probably the first generation to simultaneously be responsible to pay for our parents retirement (because they didn't have 401(k)s when they worked and their pensions got raided), pay for our own student loans (because our parents didn't have the money for our tuition), and are being told to save money for our kids' tuition which is flying through the roof even moreso than our own tuition. So we're supposed to "consume" with what?

[snowguy]

Um, young guys and gals in law, you got f-ing scammed, okay? That whole law school thing? F-ing scam. Are you just figuring it out? Seriously?

Everyone else involved knew the game. The partners who hired you, billed you out at crazy rates, then clucked how expensive you are to them. (Oh, and then fired you before you could maybe even possibly attract away *their* clients.) The professors who collected fat salaries lecturing to overstuffed classes, filled with leveraged students unlikely, on average, to pay those loans back in a reasonable time frame. The universities that packed your law class to the brim, because each marginal student added is essentially costless to the Univ. but still pays full tuition. The bar associations that charges for each lawyer added. The bar review classes. The LSAT prep classes. The private law school loans that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, no matter how bad it gets out there.

All of it a f-ing scam. You are only getting a clue now because the "profession" is done with you. You are used kleenex, tossed away after everyone extracted the value they could from you. Now you are broke, with inescapable debt, prospects no better (or maybe worse) for having gone to school, and thinking about a career change, since law seems so, so cold.

If you feel cheated, it is because you were. You trusted all those people--professors, universities, partners, bar associations, etc.--to think of you and regard you with the same respect you gave them. But they just saw a sucker who didn't have a clue.

Now, what the hell do you owe anybody after all that? Nothing. Not a damn thing. Go make your life better. Screw the "profession", the alumni association, the local bar, and everything else. You need to look out for number one. Because those damn baby boomers and their fat, spoiled kids others already got all they ever should get from you.

[GENEXER Attorney]

Hang in there, Roller-Skate Skinny. It will get better.

[GENEXER Attorney]

Or maybe, it's time to change the law practice model. Your article focuses only on BigLaw. And working in BigLaw and making lots of money should have never been the reason to go to law school in the first place. There are plenty of places to get real and good experience at any point in your career: smaller firms, the government and non-profit organizations offer young and not-so-young lawyers actual experience. Our generation -- GenX -- ought to take this opportunity to reexamine the priorities of a broken profession: one that too often values fake prestige over actual accomplishments; appearances over reality; and phony accolades over actual merit. You don't have to wait for somebody to retire to make your mark; get out there now and go for it. Lots of people really NEED smart and good lawyers who are young and have lots of energy. The prevalent values of the Baby Boomer generation: solipsism and endless self-examination at the expense of looking out for the rest of society don't have to be our values or our paradigm.

[Lathamed]

I got Lathamed by Latham as a first year and now my career is effed before it got started. Thanks Latham!

[Ismone]

Hang in there, roller-skate. I know things are rough right now, so just make time for yourself and make sure to keep up with activities you enjoy, even if you don't feel like them. Thirty-five isn't that old, really. I won't give you job search advice, because I don't know how hard you're looking, or what market you're in, but things are starting to get slightly better. I think they will suck for a while longer, but just hang in there and take care of yourself.

-A fellow lawyer

[ATL fan]

Re: Above The Law

Don't forget Kash among the boys!!

[Roller-skate skinny]

I am so lost. I think my life and career have jumped the shark. My hippie parents didn't save any money for my education and my brain is mortgaged to the hilt. I got my degree shortly before 9/11 and every kind of low-level attorney position (extern, intern, law clerk, government attorney) in existence. I finally get an associate position and work my ass off only to be laid off like everyone else. Now, I am doing document review and I can't make my loan payements. I don't think I have a bestseller in me to pay off all of this law school debt, and every firm in town is treating me like stigmatized property because I got laid off. This isn't what I went to law school to do. I put off everything for my career and now I'm pushing 35, childless, purposeless, real jobless.